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Sacramento – State Senator Brian Jones (R-Santee) today voted against Senate Bill 50 on the Senate Floor.
SB 50, one of the most hotly-contested measures of the last two years, is authored by Senator Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) and is an attempt to generate new housing construction throughout California. SB 50 would “encourage” more housing by basically usurping local control and forcing new housing over the objections of cities, communities and neighborhoods.
“California is the premier example of why a one-size-fits-all concept like SB 50 is a really bad idea,” stated Senator Jones. “Trying to force state mandated planning rules on diverse communities ranging from Alameda to Alpine, from Los Angeles to La Mesa and from San Francisco to San Marcos is unwise.”
Jones previously served on the Santee City Council and is infinitely familiar with the challenges and opportunities available to local officials when planning for future housing development.
“I appreciate the intentions and ambition of Senator Weiner to try to solve the problem, but I really think that rather than a statewide effort he ought to focus his attention on the nine counties in the Bay Area – the epitome of the state’s housing crisis,” continued Jones. “When I was on the (Santee) Council we worked with our residents, and through an extensive process we generally came up with reasonable, consensus-based decisions. SB 50 has the potential to destroy that local process.”
SB 50 failed today’s vote but is eligible for reconsideration in tomorrow morning’s Senate Floor session.